Robert Powell reveals to us a particular version of ancient Eastern philosophy-religion through his selection of aphorisms of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj translated from Marathi. In these aphorisms, he captures and summarizes the wisdom of India epitomized in advaita as philosophy and practiced in everyday life as a blissful religion.
This book attempts to distill the essence of the teachings of Maharaj from the available information and present the result in terms that are readily intelligible and do not require any specialized religious or philosophical knowledge or aptitude.
A considerable part of what has been recorded of Maharaj’s teaching is contained in the monumental work I am That, a collection of conversations with Maharaj, translated from tape recordings in the original Marathi language by Maurice Frydman. The latter was a brilliant Polish electrical engineer and inventor who spent about half a century in India, where he immersed himself in the ancient teaching of advaita. Just as Paul Brunton discovered and introduced to the West that other great Indian sage, Sri Ramana Maharshi, so Frydman was the first to translate and make known to a wide audience Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. The world owes a debt of gratitude to Frydman, for without his initiative and untiring efforts this treasure would not have been available.
